The Aix Eco Meetings announced for July 3, 4 and 5

A quantum leap from previous editions. This is the promise of the 25th edition of the Aix-en-Provence Economic Meetings, which will be held on July 3, 4, and 5 at Parc Jourdan in the city of King René.

This is in any case how Jean-Hervé Lorenzi, its president, presented it, this Thursday, May 15, during the press conference announcing the event supported by the Cercle des économistes in partnership with Aix-Marseille University and the South Region, where no fewer than 380 speakers of 51 different nationalities are expected.

They are political leaders, representatives of large corporations or trade unionists, spokespersons for NGOs or simply students and will work on the theme "Facing the shock of realities" over 76 different discussion spaces, including agoras reserved for young people to speak.

This year, there is a major new feature: the presence of 34 think tanks from all over the world, representing very diverse schools of thought.

"Including the Trumpist movement. This is perhaps the future of the Aix Economic Meetings: to be a place for dialogue between very different movements," the economist emphasized.

This series of exchanges between think tanks is called the Global Economic Dialogue, and will allow us to explore the major themes of this edition, which all echo what the planet is experiencing.

The first day, Thursday, July 3, will be dedicated to an inventory of the world, the second to exploring the different realities that coexist there, and finally, Saturday, July 5, punctuated by a large evening party to celebrate the 25th anniversary, will address possible solutions.

Trade war

Over the course of these three days, and thanks to the presence of big names from the economic and political world, such as Nobel Prize winner Esther Duflo and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Daghi, the subject of economic war and war in general will therefore be discussed.

"More than 56 conflicts have been declared in the world in 2024" recalled Lionel Ragot, professor of economics at the University of Paris Nanterre, during the presentation, while the economist Lionel Fontagné mentioned the session on "the trade war, prelude to the economic crisis" but also the solutions to the ambient uncertainty, which Europe can be carrying "we must think of it as an opportunity for productivity growth" .

Financing the ecological transition of countries in the South will also be among the topics of reflection, as will the emergence of artificial intelligence in our lives or the economic model of the press, undermined precisely by these new digital tools, "because the press assumes the costs of producing information while the revenue is captured by other actors, and advertising revenue is falling" recalled Françoise Benhamou, the president of the Cercle des économistes.

"General states of thought" or "stage of collective intelligence," as François de Canson, vice-president of the South Region, partner of the event, called them, the Economic Meetings are more than ever intended to be a place for debate and the emergence of solutions. President Macron has been officially invited to attend. The organizers do not yet have the answer.

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